Night And Morning - The Magic Nuts - Mocomi.com

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THE MAGIC NUTS
BY
MRS. MOLESWORTH

NIGHT AND
MORNING
F UN FOR ME!

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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

Little Leonore pressed her face against the window of the railway carriage and
tried hard to see out. But it was no use. It all looked so dark and black, all the
darker and blacker for the glimmer of the rain-drops trickling down thickly
outside, and reflecting the feeble light of the lamp in the roof of the
compartment.
Leonore sighed deeply. She was very tired, more tired than she knew, for she
did not feel sleepy, or as if she would give anything to be undressed and go to
bed. On the contrary, she wished with all her heart that it was daylight, and that
it would leave off raining, and that she could get out of the stuffy old railway
train, and go for a good run. It had been raining for so long, and they had been
such a lot of hours shut in and bum-bumming along in this dreary way—it even
seemed to her now and then as if she had always been sitting in her corner like
this, and that it had always been night and always raining outside.
'I don't believe I'm going to be happy at all at Alten,' she said to herself. 'I'm sure
it's going to be horrid. It's always the way if people tell you anything's going to
be lovely and nice, it's sure to be dull, and—just horrid.'
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

She glanced at the other end of the railway carriage where a lady, comfortably
muffled up in the corner, was sleeping peacefully. She was not an old lady, but
she was not young. To Leonore she seemed past counting her age, for she never
appeared to get older, and during the six or seven years she had been the little
girl's governess she had not changed at all.
'I wish I could go to sleep like Fraulein,' was the next thought that came into her
busy brain. 'When she wakes she'll think I have been asleep, for she did tuck me
up nicely. And I'm feeling as cross as cross.'
Then her eyes fell on the little cushion and the railway rug that she had thrown
on to the floor—should she try to settle herself again and perhaps manage to go
to sleep? It would be so nice to wake up and find they had got there, and surely
it could not be very much farther. Fraulein had said ten o'clock, had she not?
Leonore remembered sitting up one night till ten o'clock—more than a year
ago—when her father was expected to arrive, and Fraulein was sure he would
like to find her awake to welcome him. It hadn't seemed half so late that night as
it did now—would ten o'clock never come?
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

She stooped down and pulled up the rug, and tried to prop the cushion against
the back of the seat for her head. It was not very easy to manage, but Leonore
was not a selfish child; it never occurred to her to disturb her governess for the
sake of her own comfort, though Fraulein would not have been the least vexed
with her had she done so.
Just as she had made up her mind that she would try to go to sleep, she felt a
slight change in the motion of the train—the bum and rattle, rattle and bum,
grew fainter—was it only her fancy, or could it, oh! could it be that they were
slackening speed? If so, it could only mean arriving at Alten, for hergoverness
had distinctly told her they would not stop again till they had reached their
journey's end.
'Sleep, my dear,' she had said, 'sleep well till I wake you, and then we shall be
there. There will be no other stopping anywhere to disturb you.'
Leonore held her breath in anxiety—yes, it was no fancy—they were moving
more and more slowly, and through the darkness lights, which were not the
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

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glimmer of the rain-drops, began to appear. Then at last there was a pull-up.
'Fraulein, Fraulein,' cried Leonore, in great excitement, 'wake up, quick. We're
there—do you hear? The train has stopped.'
Poor Fraulein had started up at the first words, but Leonore was too eager to
leave off talking all at once, and in another moment the governess's head was
out of the window, calling to a porter, for there was not too much time to spare,
as the train had to start off again, not having finished its journey, though some
of its passengers had done so.
And almost before our little girl had quite taken in that the dreary rattle and bum
in the darkness were over, she found herself on the platform, her own little
travelling-bag and warm cloak in her grasp, while Fraulein, who insisted on
loading herself as much as the porter, was chattering away to him in the
cheeriest and liveliest of voices, far too fast for Leonore to understand much of
what she said, as if she had never been asleep in her life.

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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

'I suppose she's very pleased to be in her own country,' thought Leonore. 'I wish
it wasn't night, so that I could see what it all looks like,' and she gazed about her
eagerly, as she followed Fraulein and the porter out of the station.
Something, after all, was to be seen. The rain was clearing off; overhead it was
almost dry, though very wet and puddly underfoot. In front of the station was a
wide open space, with trees surrounding it, except where a broad road, at the
end of which lamps showed some carriages waiting, led away to somewhere,
though no streets or even houses were to be seen. The air felt fresh and
pleasant, and Leonore's spirits began to rise.
'It feels like the country,' she said to herself; 'I wonder where the town is.'
But Fraulein was still too busy talking to the porter and to two or three other
men who had somehow sprung up, to be asked any questions just yet. One of
the men had a band round his cap with some words stamped on it in gilt letters.
Leonore could only make out one word, 'Hotel ——,' and then he turned away,
and she could not see the others.
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

By this time her governess was picking up her skirts in preparation for crossing
the wet space before them.
'He says we had better step over to where the carriages are standing,' she
explained to the little girl; 'it will be quicker'; and when, a moment later, the two
found themselves alone, with plenty of room, in the comfortable omnibus, she
lent back with a sigh of satisfaction.
'It is so pleasant to be in a land where things are well managed,' she said. 'We
do not need to wait for our big luggage. I give the paper to the hotel porter, he
sees to it all for us.'
'Yes,' said Leonore, though without paying much attention; the care of the
luggage did not trouble her; 'but do tell me, Fraulein, dear, where is the hotel?
Where are the streets and—and—everything? It seems like the country, and oh,
aren't you glad to be out of the train? I thought we should never get here, and it
was so dark and raining so hard, and I couldn't go to sleep.'

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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

'Poor dear,' said tender-hearted Fraulein, 'and I who slept comfortably for so
long. Had I known you were awake I would have kept awake also.'
'Never mind now,' said Leonore amiably; 'but tell me where we are going.'
'The station is half a mile or so out of the town,' explained the governess. 'See
now, the houses are appearing. We cross the bridge—by daylight it is beautiful,
such a view down the river.'
But Leonore did not care very much about beautiful views—not just now
especially.
'I wish it wasn't so far to the town,' she said wearily, though almost as she said
the words her tone changed. 'Oh now,' she exclaimed brightly, 'we are really
getting into the streets. How queer everything looks—do you think the people
are all in bed, Fraulein?'
It was a natural question, for as they drove through the wide dark streets,
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

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faintly lighted by an occasional lamp, there was nothing to be seen but closed
shutters and barred doors. The houses, for the most part, looked large,
particularly as regarded the entrance, for many of these led into courtyards,
with great double gates.
Fraulein nodded her head.
'They are all in their houses,' she said, 'though perhaps not all in bed yet, for it
is not really so very late. In Alten we keep to the good old ways, you see, my
dear—"early to bed and early to rise," as your rhyme says.'
'It's very dull-looking,' said Leonore discontentedly. 'It seems like a lot of
prisons, and—oh——'
She broke off suddenly, for they were stopping at last, or at least preparing to
stop, as they turned in through a large doorway standing open to admit them
into a courtyard, paved with cobble stones, and dimly lighted like the streets by
an old-fashioned lamp or lantern at one side.
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

There was more light at the other side, however, where a short flight of steps
led into the hotel, and here they pulled up, to be received by a funny little man in
black, with a large expanse of shirt-front, and by what looked to Leonore's
half-dazzled eyes like a whole troop of waiters, also in black, fluttering about
him, though in reality there were only three—all the party bowing in the most
polite way, and almost tumbling over each other in their eagerness to help the
ladies to alight.
This sort of thing was quite to Leonore's taste, and for the moment all feeling
of dullness or tiredness left her. She bent her head graciously to the little fat
man, who was really the landlord, and allowed one of the others to take her cloak
and bag. Fraulein seemed more than ever in her element. Yes; rooms were
ready for the ladies—two bedrooms opening into each other—would they have
supper upstairs, or (and as he spoke the polite little man threw open a door they
were passing) in here? 'Here' being the large dining-room. They would be quite
undisturbed.
'Oh, in here, Fraulein, do say in here,' said Leonore, 'I don't like eating in
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

bedrooms; it makes me feel as if I had the measles or something. And, I'm not
sure, but I think I'm rather hungry, so mayn't we have supper at once?'
Fraulein was quite willing, and supper, in the shape of chocolate and an
omelette, would be ready immediately. So the two settled themselves at one end
of the long narrow table, and Leonore's eyes set to work to see what they could
see by the light of the two not very bright lamps.
'What a funny old man,' she exclaimed. 'Look, Fraulein, the walls are all dark
wood like a church, and the ceiling has white carvings on it, and the floor is red
and black squares like the kitchen at Aunt Isabella's. And it isn't like a hotel, is
it? Not like the one at Paris, where there was such a bustle. I don't believe
there's anybody staying here except you and me.'
'Oh yes, there are probably other people,' said Fraulein, 'but it is long past
proper supper-time, you see, my dear. It is very polite of the landlord to have
received us himself, and to have all the waiters in attendance.'

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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

And by the way Fraulein leant back in her chair Leonore saw that she was in a
state of great satisfaction with everything, and exceedingly delighted to find
herself again in her own country.
Upstairs, where they soon made their way, guided by two, if not three, of the
attentive waiters, the house seemed even queerer and older than down below.
Leonore was now getting too sleepy to notice anything very clearly, but the dark
wainscotted walls, the long passages and funny little staircases, struck her as
very mysterious and interesting, and she said to herself that she would have a
good exploring the next day.
The bedrooms prepared for them looked large and imposing, partly perhaps
because the candles left the corners in darkness. The beds were small andcosy,
with their white eider-down quilts, and very comfortable too, as the tired little
girl stretched herself out with a sigh of relief and content, to fall asleep long
before Fraulein had completed her unpackings and arrangements.
If Leonore had any dreams that night she did not know it, for the sun had been
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

up some hours before she awoke, though it was already late autumn. She did not
feel at all ashamed of her laziness however, and considering everything I do not
see that she had any reason to feel so. And she gave a cry of welcome and
pleasure as she caught sight of the merry little rays of sunshine creeping over
the white bed as if to wish her a kindly good morning.
'Oh I am glad it is a fine day,' she thought to herself, 'and I am so glad we are not
going in that horrid old train again.'
She lay still and looked about her. Yes, it was a curiously old-fashioned room;
even a child could see at once that the house must be very, very old.
'I wonder if many little girls have slept here and waked up in the morning, and
looked at the funny walls and queer-shaped ceiling just like I'm doing,' she
thought to herself. 'Some of them must be quite old women by now, and perhaps
even, lots who have been dead for hundreds of years have lived here. How queer
it is to think of! I wonder if Fraulein is awake, and I do hope we shall have
breakfast soon. I'm so hungry.'
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

The sound of a tap seemed to come as an answer to these questions and hopes,
and as Fraulein put her head in at one door, a maid carrying a bath and a large
can of hot water appeared at the other. She was a pleasant-faced girl with rosy
cheeks, and as she passed the bed she wished the young lady good morning with
a smile.
'You are awake, my child?' said the governess. 'That is right. You have slept
well? Call me as soon as you want me to help you to do your hair, and then we
shall have our breakfast. You would rather have it downstairs, I suppose?'
'Oh yes,' said Leonore decidedly. 'I am quite rested, Fraulein, and I want
dreadfully to go downstairs and see this funny old place by daylight, and I want
to look out of the window to see if the streets look nice, and—and——'
'Well, get dressed first, my dear,' said her governess, pleased to find the little
girl in such a cheerful frame of mind. 'It is just a trifle cold, though it will
probably be warmer as the day goes on, thanks to this bright sunshine. You
have had rainy weather lately, I suppose?' she went on, turning to the
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS
maid-servant.The girl held up her hands.

'Rain,' she repeated, 'yes, indeed, I should rather think so—rain, rain, rain, for
ever so many days. The ladies have brought us the sunshine.'
So it seemed, for when they made their way downstairs, Leonore scarcely knew
the dining-room again, it looked so bright and cheerful in comparison with the
night before. Their coffee and rolls had not yet made their appearance, so the
little girl flew to the window to see what she could through the muslin blinds. For
the window opened straight out on to the pavement, so that any inquisitive
passer-by could peep in, which made the blinds quite necessary, as, though it is
very pleasant to look out, it is not equally so to feel that strangers can look in
when one is sitting at table.
Leonore pulled a tiny corner of the blind aside.
'Oh, Fraulein,' she exclaimed, 'it is such a nice street. And there are lots of
people passing, and shops a little way off, and I see the top of a big old church
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

quite near, and—and—a sort of open square place up that short street—do you
see?' Fraulein having joined her by this time.
'That is the market-place,' said her governess, 'and I rather think—yes, I am
sure it is market-day to-day.'Leonore danced about in excitement.
'Oh, please take me to see it,' she said. 'I have never seen a proper market, and
perhaps the people would have funny dresses—costumes like what you were
telling me about. Do you think we should see any of them?'
'I hope so,' said Fraulein, 'we must go out as soon as we have had breakfast and
see. I have to ask about a carriage to take us to Dorf. I almost wish——'
'What?' asked Leonore.
'That we could stay till to-morrow, if Alten amuses you so—indeed, I do not see
why we need hurry. My aunt is not quite certain what day we are coming, and
she is quite certain to be ready for us whenever we arrive. Indeed, I have no
doubt she has had our rooms prepared for weeks past, so good and careful a
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS
housewife is she. Our beds will have been aired every day, I daresay.'

But Leonore was scarcely old enough to care whether the beds were aired or
not. For the moment her whole thoughts were running on having a good
exploring of the quaint town which had so taken her fancy, and while she drank
her coffee and munched the nice crisp rolls, which tasted better than any bread
she had ever eaten before, she kept urging her governess to stay another day
where they were.
'You see,' she said, 'I'm so used to the country, and we shall be there all the
winter, and I daresay it will be rather dull.'
'I hope not,' said Fraulein, somewhat anxiously. 'I shall do my best, you know, my
child, to make you happy, and so will my good aunt, I am sure.'
'Oh yes, I know you are always very kind,' said Leonore, with a funny little tone
of condescension which she sometimes used to her governess. 'But, you see, it
must be dull when anybody has no brothers and sisters, and no mamma—and
papa so far away.'
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NIGHT AND
MORNING

THE MAGIC NUTS

She gave a little sigh. She rather liked to pity herself now and then, and it made
Fraulein all the kinder, but in reality she was not in some ways so much to be
pitied as might have seemed. For she could not remember her mother, and she
had been accustomed all her life to her father's being as a rule away from her,
though when he was in England he spent most of his time in planning pleasures
for his little daughter. Then she had had plenty of kind aunts and uncles, and,
above all, the constant care of her devoted Fraulein.
But Fraulein's heart was very tender. She kissed Leonore fondly, and as soon as
breakfast was over, out they sallied, after settling that they should stay at Alten
another night, to please the little lady.
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